A Big Reminder Of Why Davos Exists

Here's an ad that's taken over the side of a town bus here in
Davos, Switzerland, home of the World Economic Forum Annual
Meeting.

It instantly reminds you of a big reason why this event (which
draws business executives, pundits, and government officials from
all over the world) exists. Everybody is looking for cash. Well,
maybe not everybody, but there are tons of ads everywhere and
events sponsored by developing markets advertising themselves as
great places to invest. India
has a particularly big presence, with ads throughout the town
touting its benefits for business, and its growing middle
class.

Andrew Ross Sorkin has a column up about notable people who
are not in Davos, and I was particularly surprised to read
this:

The leaders of General Electric
and IBM, Jeffrey R. Immelt and Virginia M. Rometty, are not
attendees either. “I don’t go to Davos and places like that,” Mr.
Immelt once said dismissively.

It's hard to think of a company
that's more situated at the nexus of government interest and
private investment than GE. I'd almost think of it as the natural
Davos company, though apparently Immelt thinks it's a waste of
time.

Regardless, this place will be
teeming over the next several days with officials from various
countries and the corporate executives eager to make deals with
them.